The Little Things Give You Away
| Length = 6:23Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. [ Review: Minutes to Midnight]. Wikipedia:Allmusic. Retrieved on 2009-11-08. | Label = Warner Bros. | Writer = Wikipedia:Linkin Park | Producer = Wikipedia:Rick Rubin, Wikipedia:Mike Shinoda }} The Little Things Give You Away is a 2007 song by Wikipedia:Linkin Park. It is the final song on their third studio album, Minutes to Midnight. Background The song was released as a diatribe after the band toured Wikipedia:New Orleans and saw the effects of Wikipedia:Hurricane Katrina.Lamb, Bill. [http://top40.about.com/od/albums/fr/minutesmidnight.htm Review: Minutes to Midnight]. Wikipedia:About.com. Retrieved on 2009-11-08. The song attacks the way US President Wikipedia:George W. Bush handled the situation, with lyrics like, "All you've ever wanted was someone to truly look up to you/and six feet underwater/I do". Composition The song is frequently described as "Little Things". The song is the longest song Linkin Park has ever recorded, and has the longest title of any song ever recorded by them. The song is the last song on the album, though it was not the last to be recorded; "Wikipedia:What I've Done" was. According to guitarist Wikipedia:Brad Delson, this is because the band considered it their "favourite song on the record. It's the biggest statement that we've ever made. Nothing could go after it as everything would get eclipsed by it. The thing that really makes it is the guitar solo." Delson had previously preferred to eschew guitar solos because he detested showing off, although according to vocalist Wikipedia:Mike Shinoda, "it was one of the most emotional moments we've recorded. It says what the lyrics are saying without words". In an interview with Wikipedia:MusicRadar, Delton said that the version of the song the band chose to use was improvised in the studio, rather than written beforehand. When the band was piecing together, Delson experimented with an Wikipedia:EBow. The band decided not to use the effect for the solo in that song and instead ended up creating "No More Sorrow" out of the effect. Shinoda and Delson teamed up with David Campbell to add string elements to "The Little Things Give You Away", as well as "Leave Out All the Rest", "Shadow of the Day", "Hands Held High", and the two b-sides "No Roads Left" and "Blackbirds". The song also contains scratching elements. Wikipedia:Chester Bennington provides vocals throughout, and towards the end of the track Wikipedia:Mike Shinoda provides vocals as well. Scratching elements by Joe Hahn that existed in the previous two studio albums are largely absent on the album as a whole, except on "Little Things" and "What I've Done", "Wake", "Valentine's Day" and "In Pieces". Critical reception Critical reception for the song was positive. Bill Lamb of Wikipedia:About.com said that "the failings of our current presidential administration are laid bare as all too personal and human." David Fricke of ''Wikipedia:Rolling Stone said that with the song "the band coolly torpedoes George W. Bush's petty, disastrous arrogance on Iraq and New Orleans (for starters), building from acoustic strum and soft-shoe electronics to magisterial Seventies-arena guitar and lacerating disgust". In Spin, Mikael Wood said, "And in the more densely layered cuts – such as 'The Little Things Give You Away', on which singer Chester Bennington describes a scene of post-Katrina desolation – the music privileges texture over catchiness". And Wikipedia:Sputnikmusic's altairschaos56 described it as "breathtaking. Using many strings song creates a beautiful sound and Bennington's vocals fit perfectly. Bennington proves in this song more than any other that he can sing-not just scream". External links * http://linkinpark.wikia.com/wiki/The_Little_Things_Give_You_Away References Wikipedia:Category:Linkin Park songs Wikipedia:Category:2007 songs Wikipedia:Category:Song recordings produced by Rick Rubin Wikipedia:Category:Works about George W. Bush Category:Linkin Park songs Category:2007 songs Category:Song recordings produced by Rick Rubin Category:Works about George W. Bush Category:George W. Bush Bush, George W. Bush, George W. Works Category:2000s works Hurricane Katrina Works Disasters Natural Category:Songs about disasters Category:2010s songs Category:2010s in music